Nyokum Yullo Festival

Context (IE): The Nyokum Yullo festival is celebrated by the Nyishi community in Arunachal Pradesh.

About Nyokum Yullo Festival

Meaning: The Word Nyokum has been derived from the combination of two words – Nyok means land (earth) and Kum means collectiveness or togetherness.

Worship: No idols, and the main prayer structure is yugang, which is made of bamboo, with sacrificial animals tethered beside it.
- Nyokum goddess, goddess of prosperity, is invoked for her blessings for more production of food grains in the next harvesting season.
Attire: Men wear a cotton eri robe, bead necklaces, and a bamboo-woven cap adorned with feathers, fur, or a hornbill beak.
- Women dress in parej, earrings, bead necklaces, and a finely crafted bamboo headdress.
Singing & dancing precede the main ritual, performed by the head priest (nyubh) and his attendants.
Guests are welcomed with rice paste powder and opo (millet seed beer) served in dried gourd ladles.

Credit: Arunachal24

The Nyishi are the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. They also live in Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur districts of Assam.
In Nishi, their traditional language, Nyi refers to “a man”, and the word shi denotes “a being”, which, combined together, refers to a civilised human being.
The Nyishi language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, however, the origin is disputed.
They trace their descent patrilineally and are divided into several clans.
Polygyny (man has more than one wife) is prevalent among the Nyishi.
The Nyishi believe that human beings’ can live a life of peace and prosperity on this earth only when a perfect harmony is maintained between man, God and nature.